My Transformative Four-Week Chief Justice Internship Experience
Kateryna Kutsurais, Class of LL.B.(Hons) Full Time, shares her thoughts and experience of her four-week summer Chief Justice Internship.
The Chief Justice’s Placement Programme has been an extraordinary experience that not only enhanced my knowledge of how the courts operate internally but also broadened my overall understanding of various areas of law and their practical applications. Additionally, it helped me build connections with law students from different universities and legal practitioners.
The majority of the placement consisted of visiting court hearings with your assigned judge. I had the honour of shadowing The Hon. Mr Justice Burns of the Central Criminal Court. Attending the hearings equipped me with invaluable knowledge of how the criminal trials are carried out in practice, and I was surprised to learn that many things were different from what I had expected.
I had an opportunity to go to the Judge’s Chambers and ask Mr Justice Burns questions or discuss the proceedings for which I am incredibly grateful. Additionally, his judicial assistant kindly guided me through the courts and answered any questions I had.
Apart from attending the court hearings, we had a number of talks and workshops to attend, which were mainly led by Judges of the Superior Courts, and some by barristers, solicitors, and judicial assistants. All talks were extremely informative and have equipped me with a deeper understanding of different areas of law as well as different career paths that a law student can pursue.
Furthermore, the workshops which were led by judicial assistants, taught me essential mooting skills, such as how to draft your submissions and how to present them in court.
We also had the pleasure of meeting The Hon. Mr Chief Justice Donal O’Donnell, who kindly introduced us to the programme and spoke about what he hoped we would learn from the placement.
Additionally, on one of the evenings, we attended a dinner hosted by Fordham University which was a great opportunity to meet and get to know the interns from the United States.
On the last day of the placement, we took part in a moot which related to the admissibility of hearsay evidence, in which I had the role of the Senior Counsel for Prosecution and had the pleasure of presenting our arguments in front of The Hon. Ms Justice Burns. The moot followed a mock trial of an alleged murder which was a very unique and fun experience.
